


The Plan

by dantemndoza



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Getting Together, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan & Mark Lee Are Best Friends, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:15:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24032620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dantemndoza/pseuds/dantemndoza
Summary: donghyuck hatches a plan for mark to confess his feelings to yuta.
Relationships: Mark Lee/Nakamoto Yuta
Comments: 4
Kudos: 225





	The Plan

**Author's Note:**

> i got bored during quarantine and this happened!

mark didn’t know when it started. he had always been the one known to hate skinship the most, which in turn brought out the most touching he had ever experienced in his 20 years of life. donghyuck was a constant leech on his back, lips puckered up to leave the sloppiest of kisses on his cheek; jungwoo was sweeter in his attempts, but still managed to get his fill of teasing mark; and then there was yuta. 

for as long as mark had known him, yuta had always had the clingy personality that had him attached to one person all the time. it was funny when winwin was the one on the receiving end of it, with yuta’s constant hugs, spouts of love to anyone around to hear it, and constant praise to the boy. but when sicheng left for his newfound home with wayv, it left a vacuum - someone had to fill the new hole beside yuta. 

mark had no idea that yuta would end up picking him of all people to become his new attachment. it started small: hugs that came out of nowhere, praises shouted at him when they got off stage, finding a rather awful picture of himself as the other’s lock screen. although mark never outwardly showed it, he did like the attention. he would have liked it from any one of them. they were his family, and it was always nice to hear nice things from the people you cared about the most. 

but then the hugs started growing tighter and longer. every other word out of yuta’s mouth was mark’s name, and the constant declarations of love had mark reeling. donghyuck teased mark about it once, saying he had some competition when it came to getting affection from mark. mark had thrown a pillow at his face. 

as time went on, mark grew too tired to push it away. he found himself welcoming the hugs that weren’t so much a surprise anymore. he noticed the look in yuta’s eyes and the smirk on his face that signaled the oncoming assault. yuta managed to get him off the floor for a second before making him fumble, trying to regain balance. mark would wrap his arms around yuta’s shoulders as yuta would laugh into his ear, and he couldn’t hold back the sigh of content that escaped him. he was growing comfortable in yuta’s arms, something he never expected would happen. and with that comfortableness he only had one thought in his mind: he was fucked. 

-

“so you’ve got a giant crush on yuta hyung.”

mark sighed. he didn’t even know what he was thinking going to donghyuck about his possible feelings for yuta. he was never really one to take things seriously, especially if it meant getting a rise out of mark. 

“and i thought this whole time if you ended up getting feelings for anyone it would’ve been me,” donghyuck said with a smile on his face. 

“dude, can you be serious right now?” he said slipping into english. mark was losing it, and all donghyuck was doing was laughing at him. he sighed. “look,” he said in korean, “it’s not a big deal. it’ll go away. if i just ignore it then i’ll be fine.”

“and how has that been going for you?” donghyuck crossed his arms. “hyung, i know you. you can’t just ignore it. it’ll eat you alive.” donghyuck let his eyes wander down mark’s body then back up. “it’s already eating you alive.” 

mark shook his head. “if i just focus-“

“mark.” donghyuck’s voice was stern, something that mark rarely ever heard. “listen to me. you’re my best friend. and i don’t want to see you so stressed over this. you’re already overworked as it is. you don’t need to add more stress to it.”

mark felt the tension slowly start to leave his shoulders at donghyuck’s words. “thanks,” he mumbled. 

donghyuck’s smile was back on his face. “what are friends for?” his smile then morphed into the mischievous grin that always made mark scared.

“what?” mark said slowly. “what do you want?”

“i just thought of a plan to get you with yuta hyung.”

“i never said i wanted to get with-“

donghyuck put a finger against mark’s mouth. “hush now. it’s too late. the plan is in motion.”

-

however, donghyuck never elaborated what the plan was. it had been a week and so far - to mark’s knowledge - nothing changed. they were nearing the end of promotions, and mark really craved the day when it finally ended. he had no time to rest between SuperM activities and NCT activities, and the ever present yuta that seemed to take place in his mind kept him up at night. he wondered if yuta could tell he was being weird around him, scared that hyuck would jump out at any moment and do something crazy and ruin everything. 

it was sometime in the afternoon a few days later as mark rummaged through the fridge to find something to eat. they had just finished promotions and mark was finally able to get the much needed sleep - however, that means sleeping through breakfast and having to make his own food. 

“mark hyung.”

mark turned around with a bottle of yogurt in his hand to find donghyuck standing in the doorway of the living room. “what’s up?”

donghyuck crossed the room to stand right in front of mark. “we need to talk.”

“is this about the plan? because you still haven’t told me anything about it.”

donghyuck shook his head. “no,” he started. “actually i...”

there was a deafening silence that fell for too long. mark hadn’t felt this tense around donghyuck since the summer fight that fans always wondered about. “you...” mark tried. 

donghyuck sighed. “fuck it.” 

before mark could react, his best friend was kissing him. his brain short circuited and he was frozen in place. he didn’t even realize he dropped the yogurt he was holding. 

donghyuck pulled back slowly. when he opened his eyes to see mark he smiled softly. “hyung,” he voice was barely a whisper. “i like you.”

mark blinked. blinked again. “you...” blinked again. “you...” 

mark heard a cough from the doorway. both heads whipped in the direction to find doyoung, jungwoo, and yuta standing there. jungwoo’s eyes were wide and doyoung looked as uninterested as ever. 

“we were gonna watch a movie out here,” doyoung said in monotone. “but it looks like the room is being used.”

donghyuck laughed softly. “ah, seriously hyung...” he looked back at mark. “i’m gonna go now. i’ll see you later.” he started to walk toward the door, jungwoo and doyoung making way for him. donghyuck almost ran into yuta before smiling again. “sorry, hyung,” he said as he slid passed him and left the room. 

all eyes were back on mark. he hadn’t processed anything that had just happened, but seeing yuta’s face felt like a switch was flipped in his brain. 

“you know what? i don’t think i’m up for a movie tonight,” yuta said. although he was talking to doyoung and jungwoo, his eyes never left mark. 

mark couldn’t read his face. it was the first time he had seen him so closed off. it almost scared him. he was about to say something to him when yuta turned around and left the room. 

doyoung sighed. “whatever the hell just happened, i don’t want to deal with it.” he pointed at mark. “if you want advice go see taeyong hyung or johnny hyung. it’s my week off. i’m not dealing with it.” he sat down on the sofa, leaving jungwoo still stunned standing alone. 

jungwoo laughed uncomfortably. “i think i’ll go see what taeil hyung is doing,” he said. “i’ll see you for dinner, mark.”

-

when mark was finally able to move again, he went straight to donghyuck’s room. without knocking he opened the door. 

“hyuck, we need to talk.”

“he’s not here, dude.”

mark turned to find johnny sitting on his bed scrolling through his phone. 

“where is he?” he asked in english. 

“dream dorm,” johnny replied without looking up. “he said he texted renjun. he’ll be there for a week.”

“a week?!”

johnny looked up for the first time, eyebrows quirked at him. “what’s got you all wired? why do you need to talk to him so bad?”

mark groaned. “he can’t just kiss me, say he likes me, then up and run away. are you kidding me?”

“woah, back up.” johnny shifted to turn his body towards mark. “he kissed you?”

“yeah! it was even after i told him about-“ mark stopped before letting his mouth run away from him. although he let donghyuck know about his crush, he wasn’t sure if he was ready for other people to know. 

“told him about what?” johnny prodded. “about you liking yuta?”

mark’s head whipped towards johnny. “did haechan tell you?”

johnny laughed. “dude, he doesn’t have to tell me anything. you make it very apparent all on your own.”

mark threw his hands up. “so what am i supposed to do, man? hyuck likes me? what the hell-“

“first of all, calm down.” johnny motioned him to sit. mark came across the room to sit on donghyuck’s bed. “second of all, haechan doesn’t like you.”

mark’s eyebrows furrowed. “dude, did you even listen to a word i said? i said he kissed me!” 

“i heard it, and i’m telling you you’re wrong.”

mark’s brain didn’t compute. “what are you saying, exactly?”

johnny sighed. “mark, was yuta in the room when he kissed you?”

“what does that have anything to do with it? yeah, yuta hyung, doyoung hyung, and jungwoo hyung walked in on it. what does-“

mark felt like he was suddenly slapped in the face. “the plan!” he screamed. 

johnny chuckled. “you really are dense sometimes, mark.” 

mark stood up and waved him off. “i’m gonna go call hyuck. i’ll see you later.” before mark could hear an answer from johnny, he was gone. 

-

mark had been in his room staring at his phone for an hour. he didn’t know if he should call hyuck or go talk to yuta. he was stuck pacing around, trying to figure out what he would say to yuta if he did go talk to him. in the end he came up with nothing. so he picked up his phone to call the person who came up first in his mind. 

there were three rings before an answer came. “mark?”

mark sighed. “hey winwin hyung,” he said. 

there was a pause before sicheng spoke. “not to sound like i’m not happy that you called, but why are you calling?”

mark shrugged. “i don’t know. i was just wondering how you were doing, hyung. how’s wayv? how’s xuxi?”

“if you wanted to talk to xuxi you could have called him, mark.”

“wait, no, it’s not-“ mark took a big breath. “i was actually calling because i didn’t know who else to ask.”

there was shuffling on the other end of the line. “alright,” sicheng said. “what’s up?”

“it’s... it’s actually about... about yuta hyung...”

“yuta hyung? why, what happened? is he bothering you?”

“well, you see, it’s actually quite the opposite.” mark couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. he clenched his hand around the bedsheet under him. 

“so... he’s not bothering you?”

mark couldn’t bring himself to say the words. he tried to think of a way to make it sound less like he was some schoolgirl but came up short. “i like him, hyung.”

he could imagine sicheng’s face on the other end. “when did that happen?” sicheng said. 

mark sighed. “i don’t know. after you left and he had no one to bother, i guess he just started bothering me. but... i didn’t think this would happen. he’s my member, you know? and i see him everyday. but it’s like - it’s like when he hugs me so tight i can’t breathe, all i want is for him to hug me tighter. and sometimes i think he must know how i feel and that he’s just messing with me. and he just sees me as a little brother. or like his pet or something. i don’t really know what i’m saying.” mark shook his head. he clenched his fist so hard he felt his fingers start to cramp. 

there was a silence that rang through the phone. it was suffocating. he wished sicheng would just say something. 

“look, mark,” he finally said. “i may not be there anymore, but anyone can see that yuta cares about you. yeah, he’s touchy and clingy and kind of possessive, but i know that deep down he cares. whether that means in the same way as you care about him is up in the air. that’s something you need to talk to him about. he may seem like a tough guy, but he’s a softie who doesn’t like to show when he’s in pain. so just talk to him.”

sicheng’s words bounced around in his head. he didn’t realize he was holding his breath until he felt his chest tighten. he took a deep breath. mark smiled softly. “thanks, hyung. i really needed to hear that.” 

“no problem.”

-

although mark wanted to listen to sicheng’s words, the emotionless face yuta made that afternoon kept coming to mind. he had been narrowly avoiding the members, only coming out to eat when he knew no one was around, and stayed holed up in his room writing lyrics. johnny sent him a text to ask if he was dead, donghyuck asked if the plan was working - mark sent back a middle finger emoji in response - and taeyong came to knock on his door. he assured everyone he was just tired and wanted to sleep as much as he could before their next schedule. 

mark was scrolling through his phone when he heard a knock at his door. he looked up to see yuta walk into the room. 

“hyung!” mark scrambled to sit up. “what - what are you-“

“can we talk, mark?” yuta sat on the bed beside mark. his gaze was hard to look away from. 

mark nodded stiffly. 

yuta ran a hand through his hair. “winwin called me.”

mark curled in on himself. his head fell into his hands. “oh...”

“he told me you called him. and that i should talk to you.”

“yeah...”

“but i was mad. i didn’t want to talk to you. after...” yuta sighed. “after seeing haechan...” he groaned. “mark, can you at least look at me?” 

mark slowly picked up his head to see the fire in yuta’s eyes. 

“i like you, mark.” 

mark knew yuta was always straight to the point, but hearing those words come from his mouth felt like a dream. 

“and when i saw haechan kiss you,” he continued, “i don’t know. i just lost it. i wanted to do that for over a year, and yet he got to you first.” he sighed. “i guess i was just jealous.”

mark couldn’t process his words. his mouth hung open, eyes huge staring at yuta. 

“i know i probably annoy you,” yuta said. “i get it if you want me to back off from now on. i just needed to get it out. winwin helped me realize that. i can’t keep bottling up my feelings.”

yuta hadn’t broken eye contact this whole time, and suddenly mark felt uncomfortable under his gaze. he broke off to stare at his fidgeting fingers. his lips felt all too dry, his hands too clammy. he tried to speak only for the words to get caught in this throat. before he knew it he was crying. 

“mark?” yuta shifted to put a hand on his shoulder. “mark, don’t cry.” he pulled him into his chest, resting a hand on his head to play with the hairs at the base of his neck. “i’m sorry if i made things weird by saying that. but i needed to say it.”

mark shook his head against yuta’s chest, feeling a shiver go down his spine with yuta’s hand on his neck. he pulled back to look yuta in the eyes again. “it’s not that,” he said so quietly he was afraid yuta wouldn’t hear. 

there was a pause before yuta spoke. “what is it?”

mark took a shaky breath in. “the reason haechan kissed me...” mark felt yuta grow tense. “it wasn’t what you thought,” he continued. “i told him...”

“you told him...” yuta prodded. 

“i told him i like you... and he made a plan to make you jealous.”

yuta’s eyes went wide and he pulled back from mark. “he did what?”

“i told him not to! i didn’t even know what the plan was! i thought i was going crazy. but...” he clenched his fists. “i guess it kinda worked...”

yuta ran a hand through his hair. “that kid, haechan-ah,” he grumbled. 

mark couldn’t stop the giggle that bubbled its way up his throat. yuta’s face softened at the sound, a small smile on the edge of his lips. 

“cute,” yuta said as his smile grew. 

mark cringed. “ah, hyung, don’t say that.” 

yuta’s hand reached out to cup mark’s cheek. mark felt the tension fall from his shoulders, closed his eyes, and moved into the warmth of his hand. he opened his eyes again to look at yuta. 

“i like you so much, mark,” he said. 

mark couldn’t help the smile on his face. “i like you too, hyung.”

yuta leaned in and pressed his lips against mark’s. it was gentle, yuta’s lips almost too soft against his own. yuta tasted like green tea, like the confidence he wears so well. mark feels heat spread through his face, sighing into the kiss. 

yuta’s smile spread, a laugh coming through his mouth. he pulled back to rest his forehead on mark’s, shoulders still shaking from laughter. 

“what’s so funny?” mark breathed. 

“you’re so cute it’s too much to handle.”

the heat spread through his face again. “hyung...”

yuta pecked him on the lips before pulling him in by his waist, resting his head on mark’s shoulder. mark’s arms linked around yuta’s neck, playing with his soft hair. he thought about the amount of times he wanted to run his hands through yuta’s hair, letting his fingers twirl around in it. 

yuta turned his face on mark’s shoulder to place a kiss on his neck. his warm breath made mark shiver. 

“haechan wishes he were me,” yuta mumbled into mark’s neck. 

mark laughed and pushed yuta back to see the smug look on his face. “hyung! it's not like that!”

yuta shook his head before pulling mark back into him. “good. because you’re mine now.”

mark couldn’t stop his laugh. he wished he could freeze time, forever feeling this comfortable in someone’s arms. yuta leaving a trail of soft kisses along his jaw and neck. in the back of his mind he thought to thank donghyuck. maybe his crazy schemes weren’t all bad.


End file.
